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bridget_coe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
beastreader's review against another edition
4.0
I have never heard of the first book, The Fire Sermon. So I did not know that this book was the second one until I read the premise. Yet, I have read many books out of order and this is how I can judge how well the author writes if I can jump into the story without any issues and if I want to continue with the series or trilogy. Well I am happy to report that I was able to jump right into this book with no problems. Although at first I was growing weary of the repeated mentions of events in the first book, however, the further I got into the story the more I realized that the repeated mentions of the past is what is shaping Cass, Zoe, and Piper. Even though I have a really good idea of what happened in the prior novel, I still want to go back and pick up a copy of the Fire Sermon to read. The Map of Bones is an intriguing, refreshing breath of fresh air.
apolodelimalimon's review against another edition
5.0
Si ya me encantó El Sermón de Fuego, El mapa de huesos ha sido una (y perdón por mi expresión) jodida pasada.
Francesca Haig tiene un estilo que te deja sin aliento, una narrativa y una lírica que se funden en una y te estremecen el corazón describiendo emociones, describiendo metáforas, definiendo la crudeza y la esperanza del ser humano.
Se pueden buscar paralelos sino con la sociedad actual, con la sociedad del pasado más reciente (ese odio del Alfa por el Omega no deja de recordarme al odio Nazi por los Judíos aunque para los Alfas la implicación de no poder matarles sin morir ellos mismos es todo un desafío que solventan como los lectores ya saben).
Aunque se me haya hecho más corto que el primero y me haya parecido un poco más lento (quizá en el primero, al tener que hablar de muchas más cosas, me pareció más rápido) y éste con toda la trama de Sally, Nuevo Hobart y el Arca (solo digo nombres, pero no digo qué sucede ni qué/quién son, ergo no son spoilers) de repente se me había acabado el libro.
Me ha encantado que éste libro hable tanto de la esperanza, de la pérdida, sobre el destino inevitable y sobre ese debate que, como digo, tienen los alfas y los omegas, no pueden matarse a sí mismos sin matar a sus gemelos.
Aunque debo decir que hay algo que me ha fastidiado un pelín la lectura. El/la traductor/a de la novela traducía constantemente "twin" por "gemelo" aunque el gemelo de un hombre alfa, al parecer, siempre es una mujer omega, ¿entonces por qué hablar de 'el gemelo de ese alfa', cuando sería 'la gemela de ese alfa' o 'el gemelo de esa alfa'?
Francesca Haig tiene una forma de redactar que hace que esté deseando cualquier cosa suya, pues recordemos que tiene formación en poesía y eso le da las alas a su pluma para describir con tanta fiereza y certeza cualquier hecho y cualquier emoción.
Francesca Haig tiene un estilo que te deja sin aliento, una narrativa y una lírica que se funden en una y te estremecen el corazón describiendo emociones, describiendo metáforas, definiendo la crudeza y la esperanza del ser humano.
Se pueden buscar paralelos sino con la sociedad actual, con la sociedad del pasado más reciente (ese odio del Alfa por el Omega no deja de recordarme al odio Nazi por los Judíos aunque para los Alfas la implicación de no poder matarles sin morir ellos mismos es todo un desafío que solventan como los lectores ya saben).
Aunque se me haya hecho más corto que el primero y me haya parecido un poco más lento (quizá en el primero, al tener que hablar de muchas más cosas, me pareció más rápido) y éste con toda la trama de Sally, Nuevo Hobart y el Arca (solo digo nombres, pero no digo qué sucede ni qué/quién son, ergo no son spoilers) de repente se me había acabado el libro.
Me ha encantado que éste libro hable tanto de la esperanza, de la pérdida, sobre el destino inevitable y sobre ese debate que, como digo, tienen los alfas y los omegas, no pueden matarse a sí mismos sin matar a sus gemelos.
Aunque debo decir que hay algo que me ha fastidiado un pelín la lectura. El/la traductor/a de la novela traducía constantemente "twin" por "gemelo" aunque el gemelo de un hombre alfa, al parecer, siempre es una mujer omega, ¿entonces por qué hablar de 'el gemelo de ese alfa', cuando sería 'la gemela de ese alfa' o 'el gemelo de esa alfa'?
Francesca Haig tiene una forma de redactar que hace que esté deseando cualquier cosa suya, pues recordemos que tiene formación en poesía y eso le da las alas a su pluma para describir con tanta fiereza y certeza cualquier hecho y cualquier emoción.
betwixt_the_pages's review against another edition
3.0
Book Two in the critically acclaimed The Fire Sermon trilogy—The Hunger Games meets Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in this richly imagined post-apocalyptic series by award-winning poet Francesca Haig.
Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that has laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair, one is an Alpha—physically perfect in every way; and the other an Omega—burdened with deformity, small or large. With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world’s sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort, Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: whenever one twin dies, so does the other.
Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side-by-side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.
- - - - -
Rating: 3/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: I am supremely disappointed; to quote Gibbs from NCIS: there's a lot of yabba-yabba, and not much else; the plot feels more like a snail-crawl than a race to the finish; the prose is gorgeous; the characters lost something between book 1 and this; somewhere, this story fell off the rails for me; I just couldn't get into it
Huge thanks to Francesca Haig; Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books publishing; and Netgalley, for granting me early access to this title in exchange for an honest review. This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.
Like book one, the prose in this is gorgeous—melodic, poetic, just a hint of the macabre to get the general mood of the world through to readers. There were so many moments I highlighted while reading, I had a hard time deciding which portions to quote in my review. Francesca Haig, if nothing else, has a definite knack for meshing the beautiful and the ugly into a symbiotic, woven net. This world falls over you like a scarf around the neck: beautiful, but often choking if worn incorrectly.
I am, however...supremely disappointed. This has been one of my most-anticipated novels for at least a year now...and in the end, I feel it let me down much more than I thought any book ever could. Which is depressing, really—when I first started this read, I was SO into the world being built. But somewhere around the thirty percent mark, things began to derail...and they didn't pick themselves up again until the last ten percent or so.
This book did almost nothing for the story. It suffers a HUGE amount of second-book syndrome, in my opinion—there are a lot of words, there's a huge amount of backstory...but it doesn't come together quite as coherently as I'd have liked. It felt like, where the first book was “runrunrunrunrun,” this book became more about crawling, slowly, through a thorn field—hard to pick my way through, hard to find the right pace. I got stuck around the fifty percent mark...and almost couldn't bring myself to finish it.
The characters, also, seem to be lacking quite a bit from book one. Cass is not nearly as vibrant, or as strong, as I thought she was. The world, and her affliction, and her brother...have all beaten her down SO. MUCH. I'm surprised she managed to pull herself off the ground to begin with. She spent most of this time either whining, arguing over senseless things, insulting her companions...or “stuck” in visions that did nothing to further the plot. Somewhere along the way, this book fell off the tracks...and took my hopes for this series with it, I'm afraid.
For a most anticipated sequel, this book really let me down. The world-building here was more “backstory” and “info-dump” than a plot device. The characters spent most of their time seeming lost, or fighting each other. Overall, this was a disappointing journey. I'm not sure I'll be picking up book three, when it's released. Of course, just because I personally don't think this book works, doesn't mean it won't work for you! So if you enjoy dystopians, you should definitely give this series a try. The first book is, even now, still one of my top favorites from 2015. I have my fingers crossed book three will work much better for me, if I decide to finish off the series later on.
Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that has laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair, one is an Alpha—physically perfect in every way; and the other an Omega—burdened with deformity, small or large. With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world’s sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort, Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: whenever one twin dies, so does the other.
Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side-by-side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.
- - - - -
Rating: 3/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: I am supremely disappointed; to quote Gibbs from NCIS: there's a lot of yabba-yabba, and not much else; the plot feels more like a snail-crawl than a race to the finish; the prose is gorgeous; the characters lost something between book 1 and this; somewhere, this story fell off the rails for me; I just couldn't get into it
Huge thanks to Francesca Haig; Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books publishing; and Netgalley, for granting me early access to this title in exchange for an honest review. This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.
All these weeks and all these miles later, I hadn't realized that I was still hauling the weight of the sky with each step.
Like book one, the prose in this is gorgeous—melodic, poetic, just a hint of the macabre to get the general mood of the world through to readers. There were so many moments I highlighted while reading, I had a hard time deciding which portions to quote in my review. Francesca Haig, if nothing else, has a definite knack for meshing the beautiful and the ugly into a symbiotic, woven net. This world falls over you like a scarf around the neck: beautiful, but often choking if worn incorrectly.
Even her teeth, as she shouted at me, had flecks of blood on them. Could she taste it? I wondered. What had happened to us? I used to work in the fields and grow things. Now, on this icy plain, I was a harvester of blood.
I am, however...supremely disappointed. This has been one of my most-anticipated novels for at least a year now...and in the end, I feel it let me down much more than I thought any book ever could. Which is depressing, really—when I first started this read, I was SO into the world being built. But somewhere around the thirty percent mark, things began to derail...and they didn't pick themselves up again until the last ten percent or so.
This book did almost nothing for the story. It suffers a HUGE amount of second-book syndrome, in my opinion—there are a lot of words, there's a huge amount of backstory...but it doesn't come together quite as coherently as I'd have liked. It felt like, where the first book was “runrunrunrunrun,” this book became more about crawling, slowly, through a thorn field—hard to pick my way through, hard to find the right pace. I got stuck around the fifty percent mark...and almost couldn't bring myself to finish it.
The characters, also, seem to be lacking quite a bit from book one. Cass is not nearly as vibrant, or as strong, as I thought she was. The world, and her affliction, and her brother...have all beaten her down SO. MUCH. I'm surprised she managed to pull herself off the ground to begin with. She spent most of this time either whining, arguing over senseless things, insulting her companions...or “stuck” in visions that did nothing to further the plot. Somewhere along the way, this book fell off the tracks...and took my hopes for this series with it, I'm afraid.
But at the end, in the silo, he'd made the choice to die, to save me. These days, it seemed that was the only gift we had to offer one another: the gift of our own deaths.
For a most anticipated sequel, this book really let me down. The world-building here was more “backstory” and “info-dump” than a plot device. The characters spent most of their time seeming lost, or fighting each other. Overall, this was a disappointing journey. I'm not sure I'll be picking up book three, when it's released. Of course, just because I personally don't think this book works, doesn't mean it won't work for you! So if you enjoy dystopians, you should definitely give this series a try. The first book is, even now, still one of my top favorites from 2015. I have my fingers crossed book three will work much better for me, if I decide to finish off the series later on.
bethorne's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars for an ending that bolsters the next book and gives more meaning to the last one, but there were long sections in the early part of the novel that felt redundant.
I do love this series and this author and this take on the future. Read it!!
I do love this series and this author and this take on the future. Read it!!
paigejane's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 — an interesting premise and good continuation of the first in the trilogy, but not as engaging as the first. I felt this book struggled to get started.
curiouskettle's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
booksandladders's review against another edition
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Actual Rating: 1.5*
DNF @ 37%
Okay I didn't mind the first book, [b:The Fire Sermon|18109771|The Fire Sermon (The Fire Sermon, #1)|Francesca Haig|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435759323s/18109771.jpg|25433352]. It was a MEH read but intriguing enough plot wise that I was ready to start [b:The Map of Bones|25814363|The Map of Bones (The Fire Sermon, #2)|Francesca Haig|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1447414395s/25814363.jpg|45671059] right away. But this one starts SO SLOW. Like at this point, I am about 40% through and I still don't know what is the point of this book. Is it so they walk around for periods of time and then have a conversation? Because that's all that has happened. And as much as I am hit or miss with travelogue books, this one was just too much. Where the first one had some semblance of a destination for all the travel, this one was just aimless wandering in my opinion. OR Cass would be like "we traveled for 24 hours. Then this conversation happened." and the conversation would happen and the next section would say "We traveled for a week. Then this conversation happened." Rinse and repeat multiple times.
Instead of taking, Cass decides to mope around. And not even because she is sad about what happens -- no it is because she is sad about the truth of Kip's life. Like okay girl. And honestly, if I had to listen to her gripe about how everyone LOVES TO KILL!!!! and how she is so cautious about it one more time I would kill her myself tbh. I get it - killing one person really kills two - but frick I can only listen to it so many times before it gets old fast.
If you really enjoyed the first one, I would say pick this one up. If you were meh about the first one, I would say take a hard pass on this one. It's too bad, really. There is such an interesting and intriguing premise and it is bogged down by travelling around and pacifist Cass who annoyed the crap out of me. I have read reviews that said the ending is interesting but the beginning is too boring for me to even want to get there so *shrugs*
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
Actual Rating: 1.5*
DNF @ 37%
Okay I didn't mind the first book, [b:The Fire Sermon|18109771|The Fire Sermon (The Fire Sermon, #1)|Francesca Haig|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435759323s/18109771.jpg|25433352]. It was a MEH read but intriguing enough plot wise that I was ready to start [b:The Map of Bones|25814363|The Map of Bones (The Fire Sermon, #2)|Francesca Haig|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1447414395s/25814363.jpg|45671059] right away. But this one starts SO SLOW. Like at this point, I am about 40% through and I still don't know what is the point of this book. Is it so they walk around for periods of time and then have a conversation? Because that's all that has happened. And as much as I am hit or miss with travelogue books, this one was just too much. Where the first one had some semblance of a destination for all the travel, this one was just aimless wandering in my opinion. OR Cass would be like "we traveled for 24 hours. Then this conversation happened." and the conversation would happen and the next section would say "We traveled for a week. Then this conversation happened." Rinse and repeat multiple times.
Instead of taking
Spoiler
Kip's death and seeing how his life as an Alpha then an Omega fit into societyIf you really enjoyed the first one, I would say pick this one up. If you were meh about the first one, I would say take a hard pass on this one. It's too bad, really. There is such an interesting and intriguing premise and it is bogged down by travelling around and pacifist Cass who annoyed the crap out of me. I have read reviews that said the ending is interesting but the beginning is too boring for me to even want to get there so *shrugs*
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
megatsunami's review against another edition
3.0
Kind of suffered from "The Two Towers" syndrome - our hero/ines endure repetitive unpleasantness and there's some lack of narrative momentum. Hoping for a stronger finale that brings back the energy of the first.
dou__04's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
4.25